Both Iran and Pakistan expressed this Friday, January 19, their willingness to de-escalate tensions between them and called for mutual cooperation, after days in which they exchanged drone and missile attacks that left a dozen dead, including several children.
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One less tension factor in the Middle East, the leaders of Iran and Pakistan promise. This Friday, both Tehran and Islamabad showed their intention to establish peaceful relations, after days of maximum tension between both countries, with crossed attacks on their territories.
A statement from the office of Pakistan's interim prime minister, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, assured that both countries could “mutually overcome minor frictions through dialogue and diplomacy and pave the way to further deepen their historic relations,”
The letter, issued after an emergency meeting of the president with the country's Security Committee on Thursday, said, however, that any attempt to violate Pakistan's territory would be “responded with all the power of the State” and called on Iran to use existing communication channels regarding security concerns.
On the other hand, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the head of the portfolio, Jalil Abbas Jilani, had spoken with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahia.
“Minister Jilani expressed Pakistan's readiness to work with Iran on all issues based on a spirit of mutual trust and cooperation,” an official statement said.
The detente comes after a call between Jilani and his Turkish counterpart in which Pakistan said it had “no interest or desire for escalation.” Along the same lines, the country's embassy in Iran stated this Friday: “Pakistan has always been with Iran through thick and thin. Cooperation between the two fraternal countries is critical for peace and stability,” the entity stated. in X.
In recent days, both nations have traded drone and missile attacks against what they said were militant bases in each other's territory. These were the highest-profile cross-border intrusions in recent years between both nations and set off alarms in a region highly tense due to the ongoing war in Gaza and tensions in the Red Sea.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran adheres to a policy of good neighborliness”
The night before, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had issued a statement condemning Pakistan's “unbalanced and unacceptable” attack on its territory, which caused ten deaths, although it immediately expressed its desire to reconcile:
“The Islamic Republic of Iran adheres to a policy of good neighborliness and brotherhood between the two nations and the two Governments of the Islamic Republics of Iran and Pakistan,” indicated the Foreign Ministry.
Just one day before, on January 18, Pakistan carried out attacks against Iran, which, according to what was reported by the Iranian Government, killed ten people, including four minors, in a border town. Meanwhile, Pakistan reported that an Iranian attack on its territory killed two children on Monday.
In the last days, Pakistan had recalled its ambassador in Tehran and had not allowed the Iranian ambassador to return to Pakistani territory, in the midst of the crisis.
For his part, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, had called on both parties to cease hostilities.
What did the attacks on both sides of the border consist of?
Both governments had assured that their attacks had military targets.
On the one hand, Islamabad maintained that it had attacked bases of the separatist Baluchi Liberation Front and Baluchi Liberation Army, while Tehran claimed that its drones and missiles hit militants of the Jaish al-Adl (JAA) group.
On Tuesday, Tehran attacked what it said were “barracks and a headquarters” of the JAA, alleging an “imminent terrorist threat” against the population of the Persian country. Although Iran said that this occurred in an area located kilometers from residential areas, Islamabad assured that two minors had died, called its ambassador in the Iranian capital for consultations and prohibited the return of the Iranian representative in Pakistani territory, who was away. visit in Tehran.
The JAA is a militant group with Sunni Islamist leanings, seen as a threat by mainly Shiite Tehran. This group is accused of having links with the self-proclaimed Islamic State and has carried out attacks against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
After learning of the attack, Pakistan said Thursday that it had bombed positions of insurgent groups in Iran.
Although both countries have now shown their white flags, Pakistan called a meeting of the National Security Committee this Friday in which the presence of the interim prime minister and the head of the Army, Asim Munir, is expected to continue monitoring the situation.
During the week, Iran also carried out attacks against Syrian territory, ensuring that its targets had the presence of members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, and against Iraq, where it said it had attacked an Israeli spy center.
With Reuters and EFE
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